Ghana to host African Green Revolution Forum

10 May 2010

DAR ES SALAAM: The inaugural African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) will take place in Accra, Ghana from 1 - 4 September 2010. The new initiative seeks to catalyse investments and increased cooperation to drive development of African agriculture.

The initiative is a collaborative effort of AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa), Yara International (who first initiated the conference in Oslo, Norway in 2006), Nepad and Standard Bank.

"The African Green Revolution Forum will bring public and private sector stakeholders together aiming to boost Africa's agricultural development," says Namanga Ngongi, president of AGRA. "The rapidly increasing demand for food presents both challenges and opportunities for Africa. We want to inspire action and public-private partnerships that boost both smallholder and commercial farming."

The forum aims to bring together leaders from governments in Africa, global enterprises, development agencies and world experts on agricultural development to drive partnership-action within five specific
areas:

The investment opportunity
The policy environment
Reducing the cost of finance
Increasing agricultural productivity
Increasing financial returns to farmers

For smallholder farmers in Africa to become commercially viable farmers and get their products to markets, they need access to fertiliser, seeds and water to increase yield, and infrastructure including electricity, roads and railways. A transformation of agricultural development and infrastructure in Africa is key to fighting poverty and hunger and in reaching the Millennium Development Goals.